Cutter Expansive Classification 7515 198844647 2008-03-17T12:53:22Z 161.148.96.145 The '''Cutter Expansive Classification''' system is a [[library classification]] system devised by [[Charles Ammi Cutter]]. It uses all letters to designate the top categories of books. This is in contrast to the [[Dewey Decimal Classification]], which uses only numbers, and the [[Library of Congress classification]], which uses a mixture of letters and numbers. The system was the basis for the top categories of the Library of Congress classification. "No one, perhaps, can remember it all; it cannot be learned, even in part, very quickly; but those who use the library much will find that they become familiar in time unconsciously with all that they have much occasion to use." from ''How to Get Books'' by C.A. Cutter, 1882 ==History of the Cutter classification== Charles Ammi Cutter (1837–1903), inspired by the decimal classification of his contemporary [[Melvil Dewey]], originally developed his own classification scheme for the collections of the [[Boston Athenaeum]], at which he served as librarian for two dozen years. He began work on it about 1880 and published the first schedules in the early 1890s. His five-volume catalogue of the Athenaeum collection is a classic in bibliographic history. The Cutter classification, although adopted by comparatively few libraries, mostly in [[New England]], has been called one of the most logical and scholarly of American classifications. Its outline served as a basis for the Library of Congress classification, which also took over some of its features. It did not catch on as did Dewey's system because Cutter died before it was completely finished, making no provision for the kind of development necessary as the bounds of knowledge expanded and scholarly emphases changed throughout the 20th century. ==Outline of the Cutter classification== Like the LC classification system, texts are organized by subject. Users of Cutter, however, will find the subject headings more general than those of the LC system. * A General works (encyclopedias, periodicals, society publications) * B–D Philosophy, Psychology, Religion * E, F, G Biography, History, Geography and travels * H–J, K Social sciences, Law * L–T Science and technology * U–VS Military, Sports, Recreation * VT, VV, W Theatre, Music, Fine arts * X Philology (expanded by language) * Y Literature (expanded by language, and in English form—e.g., YY is English and American literature, YYP is poetry in English) * Z Book arts, Bibliography ==How Cutter call numbers are constructed== Most call numbers in the Cutter classification follow conventions offering clues to the book's subject. The first line represents the subject, the second the author (and perhaps title), the third and fourth dates of editions, indications of translations, and critical works on particular books or authors. All numbers in the Cutter system are (or should be) shelved as if in decimal order. Size of volumes is indicated by points (.), pluses (+), or slashes (/ or //). For some subjects a numerical geographical subdivision follows the classification letters on the first line. The number 83 stands for the United States—hence, F83 is U.S. history, G83 U.S. travel, JU83 U.S. politics, WP83 U.S. painting. Geographical numbers are often further expanded decimally to represent more specific areas, sometimes followed by a capital letter indicating a particular city. The second line usually represents the author's name by a capital letter plus one or more numbers arranged decimally. This may be followed by the first letter or letters of the title in lower-case, and/or sometimes the letters a,b,c indicating other printings of the same title. When appropriate, the second line may begin with a 'form' number—e.g., 1 stands for history and criticism of a subject, 2 for a bibliography, 5 for a dictionary, 6 for an atlas or maps, 7 for a periodical, 8 for a society or university publication, 9 for a collection of works by different authors. On the third line a capital Y indicates a work about the author or book represented by the first two lines, and a capital E (for English—other letters are used for other languages) indicates a translation into English. If both criticism and translation apply to a single title, the number expands into four lines. ===Cutter Numbers=== One of the features adopted by other systems, including Library of Congress, is the Cutter number. It is an alphanumeric device to code text so that it can be arranged in alphabetical order using the least amount of characters. It contains one or two initial letters and Arabic numbers, treated as a decimal. To construct a Cutter number, a cataloger consults a Cutter table as required by the classification rules. Although Cutter numbers are mostly used for coding the names of authors, the system can be used for titles, subjects, geographic areas, and more. ==References== * Bliss, Henry Evelyn. ''The Organization of Knowledge in Libraries: and the Subject-Approach to Books'', 2nd ed. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1939. * Cutter, Charles A. ''Rules for a Dictionary Catalog''. W. P. Cutter, ed. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1904. London: The Library Association, 1962. * Cutter, William Parker. ''Charles Ammi Cutter''. Chicago: American Library Association, 1931. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1969. * Foster, William E. "Charles Ammi Cutter: A Memorial Sketch". ''Library Journal'' 28 (1903): 697-704. * Hufford, Jon R. "The Pragmatic Basis of Catalog Codes: Has the User Been Ignored?". ''Cataloging and Classification Quarterly'' 14 (1991): 27-38. * Immroth, John Philip. "Cutter, Charles Ammi". ''Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science''. Allen Kent and Harold Lancour, ed. 47 vols. New York, M. Dekker [1968- ] *Slavis, Dobrica. "CUTT-x: An Expert System for Automatic Assignment of Cutter Numbers". ''Cataloging and Classification Quarterly''. Vol 22, no. 2, 1996. * Tauber, Maurice F., and Edith Wise. "Classification Systems". Ralph R. Shaw, ed.. ''The State of the Library Art''. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers U. Graduate School of Library Service, 1961. 1-528. ==External links== * [http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/cutterguide.html The Boston Athenaeum's Guide to the Cutter System] * [http://www.forbeslibrary.org/books/cutter.shtml Forbes Library's Outline of Cutter Classification] * [http://digital.library.unt.edu/permalink/meta-dc-1048:1 ''Rules for a dictionary catalog, by Charles A. Cutter, fourth edition''], hosted by the [http://digital.library.unt.edu/ UNT Libraries Digital Collections] * [http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/053/table.html Library of Congress Guidelines for using the LC Online Shelflist and formulating a literary author number: Cutter Table] * [http://www.itsmarc.com/crs/cutr0001.htm LC Cutter Tables] [[Category:Library cataloging and classification]] [[Category:Knowledge representation]] [[es:Clasificación de Cutter]] [[pt:Tabela de Cutter]]